Employment Effects of the Internet on Rural Residents in the Context of the Digital Village

Abstract

Promoting the employment of rural labor is an important way to improve the living standards of farmers and narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas, as well as a key measure to comprehensively promote rural revitalization. Based on the 2017 China General Social Survey (CGSS) data, the impact of Internet use on rural residents' employment and its mechanism of action were validated and tested using the Probit model and KHB method. The study finds that Internet use can significantly promote the employment participation of rural laborers, and the "digital dividend" of the Internet can rely on human capital to play an effective role, and the mediating effect of healthy human capital is stronger than that of educational human capital. In addition, the effect of the Internet in promoting employment is more obvious in the youth group and the sample with a low level of social trust. Therefore, in the process of promoting rural revitalization and the employment and entrepreneurship of the rural population, it is necessary to use the Internet dividend to continuously optimize the employment structure of rural residents, and to strengthen the skills training of rural residents in the use of the Internet. It is also necessary to help them improve their professionalism and accumulate human capital, so as to strengthen the promotion effect of digital empowerment on non-farm employment.